Oxnard Police Department officers on Wednesday went to help people living in a homeless encampment at the former site of Halaco Engineering Co. move out. The site has been declared unsafe and police are closing it down.

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Mike Hill goes through a bunch of tools to find his phone charger cord at the Oxnard Halaco site. Oxnard police on Wednesday helped move homeless people out of the site of the former Halaco Engineering Co. The site has been deemed unsafe by the federal government and Oxnard officials said the homeless encampment has become a drain on public resources.(Photo: JUAN CARLO/THE STAR)Buy Photo

A convoy of 50 Oxnard police officers descended on a coastal homeless encampment Wednesday to tell the inhabitants to leave, perhaps for the last time.

Dozens of people who have been living there packed their things in shopping carts and walked off the Perkins Road property.

Gloria Marshall drove away in her mobile home before the police got out of their vehicles.

"I don't know where I'm gonna go, but I'm going," she said.

For months, the police have been informing the homeless the vacate date was near. They were on private property previously declared a Superfund site by the federal government and couldn't stay there any longer.

Rudy Tovar has lived there for a year and has belongings that can fill three shopping carts. Some of it is clothing and blankets to keep him warm during these winter nights. Some of it is tools of the trade.

Tovar, 50, was a carpenter who made a decent living during the housing boom. When the bubble burst, a steady paycheck became elusive.

One day he couldn't make rent. One day he lost his storage facility.

"Everything collapses, one thing at a time, you know?" Tovar said. "One day you're out on the street and you think, 'What the hell happened?' "

With the help of a neighbor, Tovar was able to get his belongings off the property.

The city provided shipping crates for people to store their possessions for 90 days. The crates will be stored in a separate location and the police will have to be contacted for the belongings to be claimed.

On Friday, police gave the last warning, informing inhabitants that Wednesday was the absolute last day. There were about 60 people staying there on Friday and some had left by Wednesday.

The former Halaco Engineering Co. site, just across the street from the city's wastewater treatment facility, has long attracted the homeless. But the population ballooned last year when as many as 150 people gathered there.

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OxnardPolice Department officers Wednesday told homeless people living at the site of the former Halaco Engineering Co. they had to leave or they would be cited or face arrest. Police had been telling people for months that they would have to leave the private property in Oxnard that has been deemed a Superfund site and unsafe by the federal government.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

Rafael Tejeda gets help towing his trailer out of the Oxnard site of the former Halaco Engineering Co. Wednesday. The Oxnard Police Department told people they had to leave the private property. The Halaco Superfund site is a 43-acre property where a nonferrous metals recycling facility previously operated primarily to process aluminum and magnesium metals.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

The Oxnard Police Department showed up at the former Halaco Engineering Co. site in Oxnard Wednesday to close down a homeless camp. Police had warned those living on the private property that has been declared unsafe by the federal government for months that they would have to leave. The former location of a metals recycling plant has been declared a Superfund site.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

Mike Hill goes through a bunch of tools to find his phone charger cord at the Oxnard Halaco site. Oxnard police on Wednesday helped move homeless people out of the site of the former Halaco Engineering Co. The site has been deemed unsafe by the federal government and Oxnard officials said the homeless encampment has become a drain on public resources.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

OxnardPolice Department officers came Wednesday to the former site of the Halaco Engineering Co. on Perkins Road to close down a homeless encampment that at one time was home to about 150 people.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

(Left to right) Oxnard police Officers Nate Langelier and Cody Collet talk to a homeless man Wednesday when people living in an encampment at the former Halaco Engineering Co. site were told they had to leave the site that has been deemed unsafe by the federal government.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

People who had been living in a homeless encampment on Perkins Road in Oxnard gather their belongings to move out Wednesday after the Oxnard Police Department arrived to close it down.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

Some people were arrested on past warrants Wednesday when Oxnard Police Department officers moved to close down a homeless encampment that has been operating on private property at the site of the former Halaco Engineering Co.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR

Rudy Tovar, 50, moved his belongings to a shipping crate on Wednesday as police cited trespassers at the former Halaco Engineering site. Tovar had been living in the encampment for a year.
WENDY LEUNG/THE STAR

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Some built makeshift homes with walls and flooring. Without running water and plumbing, the encampment became a major public health hazard on a site already deemed unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency.

But it's what Mike Hill, 65, calls home. He's been living there for 16 months.

Hill has a motor home but it's inoperable. As police helped people with their belongings, Hill wondered how he was going to get it towed.

"I'll park it somewhere," he said. "And look for somewhere to rebuild."

Police said 37 people left voluntarily Tuesday. Seven people were arrested for past warrants. If there are still people at the site on Thursday, they will be taken into police custody.

"Compliance is our main goal today," Assistant Chief Jason Benites said during a briefing before the operation began.

Cars on the property were towed and police plan to return in the next several days before the property is cleared next week.

It will be an end to what officials have said to be a problem area draining public safety resources. A homicide and multiple shootings have taken place there.

Officers were told about the trash and debris before entering the site and were warned about Hepitatis A outbreaks in unsanitary areas.

"They're homeless, be compassionate, but the most important is officer safety," Cmdr. Robin Whitney said.

Some wore masks and gloves while conducting police work. In addition to police, there were representatives from multiple city departments helping and the presence of local clergy.

Pastor George Runyon said Halaco had become a no-win situation for everybody involved.

"It says a lot about us as a society that we're not able to care for the folks who are less fortunate," Runyon said.

Those who had working cars were able to drive off the property. Tovar, the former carpenter, lost his car long ago as tickets and registration fees piled up unpaid.

"I just try to climb out but I can't," he said.

As the morning sun began to light up the sky, Tovar wondered whether the winter warming shelter in Ventura might be his next stop. He took a flyer, which gave him directions and operating hours.

"I don't have no place to be. It's either that or the street," Tovar said.

Once his belongings are stored, Tovar said he'll change out of his clothes dirtied by all the packing. He wants to chase a job lead, construction work he heard about in recent days.

His worries about getting to Ventura and whether his belongings will be safe were mixed with a glimmer of optimism.

"If all the stars are aligned, I think things will work out for me," Tovar said.